“LORD . . . give me an undivided heart” (Psalm 86:11, NIV).
In the woods, near the top of one of Rwanda’s thousand hills, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) staff cleared trees and built a simple structure where the people in the vil- lage of Mukuyu could come to learn about God’s everlasting gospel. This structure was one of 2,227 Total Member Involvement (TMI) preaching sites throughout Rwanda in May 2016.
Down in the Batsinda sector of Kigali, ADRA workers prepared another preaching site. A call was made to ADRA Rwanda’s staff for personal donations to pay for preparing these two ADRA- managed sites. They raised $4,000. Why did they give liberally out of their pockets? ADRA money could not be used to fund evangelistic meetings. These personal donations also paid for electrical equipment, sound systems, toilets, benches, Bibles, and other discipling materials.
ADRA Rwanda has a total of 290 on staff, and less than 10 percent are Adventist Church members. Furthermore, 60 percent of the $4,000 contributed came from the non-church members! During the meetings they were also heavily involved in present- ing health talks, distributing shoes and scholastic materials, setting up electronic equipment, and transporting baptismal candidates to the baptism sites. Most of the non-church member staff bought the TMI T-shirts as well.
As I observed the heavy involvement and whole-hearted service of these non-church members, I asked myself: Do I serve God with all my heart like they do? (Psalm 86:11). What about you?
—May-Ellen Colón, PhD, serves as director of Adventist Community Services, General Conference, and special liaison to ADRA International, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
